Wang Jixuan slowly came out of deep meditation and opened his eyes. He was still in Ling Tong's room. The place looked much cleaner now; the blood that had been there was all gone.
He extended his spiritual awareness outward and found the supply station was quiet. In a corner, Zhou Zhengde sat in front of several terminal displays, holding a steaming cup of coffee, talking into a communicator.
Wan Xiaoqi, now dressed in a short shirt and overalls, was curled up on the sofa with her game console. The small screen lit up her face, highlighting her freckles. Uncle Tai and Sister Wan must have gone on a mission since the two large mechanical dogs in the supply station were also missing.
Two new rooms had been added at the back of the supply station. In the outer "guard room," Zheng Shiduo lay on a bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. In the next room, the young Wu Man sat on the edge of his bed in white pajamas, reading seriously, surrounded by various books, with two hand-drawn posters on the wall.
Where was Ling Tong? She should be fine now.
Wang Jixuan stretched and got up, feeling a slight ripple of spiritual energy around him. After purifying the resentment from those souls, his cultivation had taken a small step forward. His spiritual awareness had increased a bit, but his internal energy was thicker, his meridians stronger, and his physical body noticeably improved.
Thinking about it, it was likely due to how he had used demonic techniques, drawing in a lot of spiritual energy into himself, which had pushed his body to its limits and allowed for some growth. This kind of improvement was wasting his potential. Cultivation should be gradual and steady.
Moreover, Wang Jixuan had noticed a problem: a desire to kill. He had developed a killing intent, becoming indifferent to the consequences of taking lives. Using demonic techniques three times in just a few months had clearly affected his mindset. He needed to cultivate his mind and spirit...
But then he thought, 'Let’s first deal with that young king bug and temporarily eliminate the threat from the energy users before considering self-cultivation.'
As he strolled out, he opened the door and was met with the sight of Zhou Zhengde and Wan Xiaoqi looking his way at the same time.
"Yay!" Wan Xiaoqi jumped up in excitement and rushed to the control panel, shouting into the microphone, "Commander! Teacher Wang is awake!"
Zhou Zhengde gave Wang Jixuan a hearty fist bump, raised his coffee, and laughed heartily as he approached. Hearing that laughter made Wang Jixuan feel much more at ease. It meant Zhou had managed to handle the aftermath of things.
Wang Jixuan glanced at the calendar. It had been twenty-eight hours since he started healing Ling Tong...
"They've all gone to hunt down the blade beasts," Zhou Zhengde said with a smile, raising an eyebrow at Wang Jixuan. "Are they looking for Ling Tong?"
"She's doing very well, actually, extremely well. When she got into her special mech, the compatibility rate exceeded her peak value of 92%, reaching a record-breaking 98%! If I hadn't kept this news under wraps, there would be two rows of experts and scholars from the D5 battle zone waiting for you to give a lecture."
"Compatibility rate?" Wang Jixuan clicked his tongue. "That's a term even a junior mechanic hasn't heard before."
Zhou Zhengde then asked, "How's your injury? What's the cost of your explosive power? Is it serious?"
"I'll just be weak for a while." Wang Jixuan, now fully recovered and energetic, replied with clarity, "What's the situation at the front lines?"
"Let’s take a look over here." Zhou Zhengde led him to a nearby control panel, and Wan Xiaoqi quickly brought over a chair.
Zheng Shiduo and Wu Man had already heard the commotion and came out of their rooms. Wu Man was still in his wheelchair, needing a bit more muscle strength before he could start training to walk again.
Zhou Zhengde opened a map of the Middle Basin battle zone and explained briefly, "After the young king bug attacked Ling Tong, we completely locked onto it. Now, we just need to eliminate it. It's hiding three hundred meters underground in a rock crevice, surrounded by a large number of blade beasts."
"After discussions, the plan to hunt it down is in three steps. First, we’ll gradually compress the activity range of the blade beasts, then carry out pinpoint nuclear explosions to eliminate most of them, leaving the young king bug exposed, and finally, we’ll take it down."
"As it stands, the young king bug is in a desperate situation. Its reckless attacks on Ling Tong have already drained a lot of its energy, making this the best opportunity. The Middle Basin, especially the outskirts of the Sarir Desert, is in fierce combat, with the blade beasts going wild.
"Other comprehensive battle zones are also stepping up their efforts, and with the D5 battle zone's super reserve fully activated, the blade beasts have no chance of breaking through again... We can say we’re intentionally letting this young bug live a couple more days to draw in more blade beasts to attack. Because of its entanglement with Ling Tong, the blade beasts are now somewhat passive."
Zhou Zhengde paused for a moment and added, "Although I don't really understand what that means, the message from the D5 command center included this line—'The awakening level of the main blade beast population has increased by less than one percent.'"
"I know about that." Wang Jixuan explained, "The main blade beast population refers to the large group that defeated human civilization eighty years ago. They went into a dormant state underground, and what we're fighting now are just the fringe groups of blade beasts."
Zhou Zhengde raised his hand to his forehead, "For a junior mechanic, you sure know a lot. I didn’t even know that!"
"Ling Tong told me," Wang Jixuan asked, "Have you found the path for the mimic blade beasts to enter the fortress?"
"We found it." Zhou Zhengde sighed, "They got in through the front, where several ventilation ducts were damaged. It turns out it wasn’t someone deliberately helping the mimic blade beasts; it was those damned internal traitors who messed up the walls and monitoring systems to create smuggling and escape routes for themselves. We’ve started accountability procedures for that. Unfortunately, the energy users took down two blade beasts on the forty-ninth floor, giving them a legitimate reason to continue existing in Fortress 76."
Wang Jixuan was a bit unhappy, muttering, "Can’t we just expel them all? I want to stay peacefully in Fortress 76."
"That’s tough," Zheng Shiduo said as he pushed Wu Man over, naturally joining the conversation. "The energy user issue isn’t just a problem for Fortress 76; it’s a conflict between the surface defense coalition and the Energy City. The series of events at Fortress 76 hasn’t escalated to a significant level in Energy City yet. The commissioner they sent is just a B-level old guy. If it were an A-level or S-level... we’d better just retreat to the front lines.
"This time, we took down four C-level energy users, and they publicly announced those four were killed in battle against the blade beasts, which counts as a win! Pretty good!"
"We," Wang Jixuan lightly clicked his tongue. He was trying to suppress his desire to eliminate the energy users. But then he thought, even if he got rid of this batch, more energy users would keep coming.
‘Acting rashly would expose me to Energy City.’
‘Dealing with Energy City isn’t just about killing a few energy users; it’s about making them outlaws, despised by all of human society.’
‘Either find a way to replace the energy users in the war against the blade beasts or find a way to directly deal with the blade beasts.’
‘The military continues to provide him with energy cores, and he provides the military with the series of anti-blade beast weapons, which will allow him to gradually challenge Energy City.’
‘After all, at this stage, my means only barely touch the edge of B-level.’
Wang Jixuan was deep in thought.
Wu Man quietly said, "I’ve read some human history, and it seems the organization of Energy City has generally fallen."
Wang Jixuan asked, "Wu Man, when can you use your sensing ability again?"
"I can use it three or four times a day," Wu Man smiled a little, "I’ve sensed a few times, and there shouldn’t be any blade beasts inside the fortress."
Zheng Shiduo reminded, "The black storm and the beast-speaking boy, you two are the targets of the energy users right now... What I’m most worried about is that if we take too long, they’ll report it and bring in stronger energy users."
Zhou Zhengde nodded seriously, "The front lines have already begun purification operations, but the infiltration from the thirteen schools into the military has been building up over time. I can’t say the front lines are absolutely safe at this stage."
"Let’s wait; there’s no need to rush. You can’t eat a fat man in one bite." Wang Jixuan did some arm stretches and walked toward the workshop. "First, let’s deal with this group of blade beasts.
"If things go south, Wu Man and I can hide in other fortresses for a while. For now, we just need to keep an eye on the energy users inside the fortress.
"The energy users just make me feel sick, but this young king bug... it’s a huge danger."
"Boss! Are we going to forge some weapons?" Zheng Shiduo dropped Wu Man’s wheelchair and followed eagerly. "Can I take a look?
"If possible, could you help me forge a special anti-blade beast dagger?"
Wang Jixuan casually replied, "It can only be an ordinary anti-blade beast dagger; the one I use is off-limits."
"An ordinary one is fine! An ordinary one is fine! I’ve already designed the blueprint! Look!"
Zheng Shiduo pulled out a piece of white paper from his pocket and presented it with both hands, showing a simple design.
His little eyes were full of anticipation.
Wang Jixuan took the blueprint and suddenly shot out a flame from his palm, burning the paper to ashes, tossing the remains aside in disgust.
"No—" Zheng Shiduo cried out in despair, heartbroken. "You destroyed my hard work from this morning! I spent hours on that drawing!"
"Don’t come near my workshop!" Wang Jixuan said, his lips trembling with anger. "Even if you brought a hundred energy cores, I wouldn’t make that kind of plug! And you even wanted it to be electric! Adding a motor and a shocker inside the grip! Get lost! Get lost!"
Zhou Zhengde and Wan Xiaoqi had sweat drops on their foreheads, unable to resist facepalming.
Wu Man blinked, his pure eyes filled with curiosity. What’s a plug?
...
[36 hours until the young king bug hunt battle.]
The night breeze was gentle at the edge of the expanded C zone, where two figures walked side by side. Wang Jixuan rarely took a break outside.
He actually wanted to quickly forge a large sword for Ling Tong to use for protection.
Wang Jixuan had been focused on the quality of the sword, but now he had changed his mind. —First, he would make her a usable one, to show the military the true power of energy core weapons, boosting their confidence against the energy users.
As for the remnants of the blade beasts hiding inside the energy cores, Wang Jixuan had already found a way to pull them out.
After dinner, Ling Tong changed into tight jeans and a fitted short shirt, under which she wore a light pink sports bra, perfectly outlining her figure that was neither too slim nor too curvy.
A pendant hung around her fair neck, and traces of lipstick were visible on her lips, though she had wiped it off.
"What are you thinking about?" Ling Tong asked as she adjusted her mechanical arm.
Wang Jixuan smiled, "Just how to pass the time."
"Hmm?" Ling Tong said softly, "Isn’t our weapon expert supposed to be thinking about how to develop stronger anti-blade beast daggers?"
"That’s not a problem for me; it depends on the level of trust between me and the military."
Wang Jixuan looked up at the starry sky.
Under the light pollution of the camp, the stars appeared somewhat blurry.
Ling Tong asked, "Did we really obtain... alien technology?"
"In a way, yes."
Wang Jixuan smiled slightly, thinking of the M8848 nebula, and calmly changed the topic. "By the way, Commander, how’s the preparation for the hunt going?"
Ling Tong immediately perked up.
With a lively tone, she said, "We’re gradually pushing in from the outside, fighting during the day and scouting at night. The 003 space fortress is already hovering over this area, ensuring we can destroy the young king bug. In about thirty hours, we’ll launch a full-scale attack on it."
Wang Jixuan gave a thumbs up, "That’s impressive efficiency."
"All departments are working hard together; our half-mechanical mechs are just the spearhead."
Ling Tong praised, "Commander Dongfang Zhenghong is an excellent master of overall management. I previously held some prejudice against him because of his background. But now, I see I was short-sighted."
Wang Jixuan cleared his throat, "Once we take care of these blade beasts, let’s go visit Zhengde’s home, invite Colonel Dongfang along, and enjoy his mother’s cooking. What do you think?"
Ling Tong turned to look at Wang Jixuan, "Is this... a formal invitation?"
"Sort of."
"Okay," Ling Tong said softly, "There’s one more thing I need your agreement on."
"What is it?"
"I want to take Wu Man to the battlefield," Ling Tong said. "His ability to sense the blade beasts is very important, and I’ll arrange for Zheng Shiduo to guard him."
Wang Jixuan replied seriously, "Wu Man is a normal human; he needs to follow his own will."
"But he sees you as a spiritual mentor."
"Uh, my spirit is basically just living off food and waiting to die."
Ling Tong chuckled softly, just as Wang Jixuan’s pocket began to vibrate lightly.
Wang Jixuan took it out to check and frowned slightly.
"What’s wrong?"
"Zhengde said that Commissioner Wei Lin from Energy City wants to talk to me. He’s already helped me refuse, saying I’ve returned to the front lines."
Wang Jixuan stretched, "The walk is over; let’s go back to work!"
"Don’t you need to rest?" Ling Tong asked quietly, her emotions hard to read.
"Fighting against the blade beasts means no rest!"
Ling Tong’s eyes showed a hint of emotion.
Wang Jixuan walked ahead, calling out, "But Commander, you’ve been fighting all day and should rest. If all goes well, I’ll give you a treasure tomorrow morning."
A treasure? Ling Tong’s curiosity was piqued.
(End of Chapter)